June 19, 2020 Lawrence, MA- On Friday, June 19, 2020, Governor Charlie Baker announced that the Commonwealth would be entering Phase 2, Part 2 of the reopening plan starting Monday, June 22, 2020. Today the City of Lawrence is announcing that the City will enter Phase 2, Part 2 on Monday, June 29, 2020. All Phase 2 Part 2 affected businesses listed in the Governor’s order can resume business according to the Governor’s guidelines on Monday, June 29th. “This week’s state-wide data shows that Lawrence continues to be a hotspot for coronavirus, we cannot make the mistake of underestimating this virus,” said Mayor Daniel Rivera. “The fact remains that Lawrence is still behind the curve in terms of combating the virus. Continuing on this cautious, delayed re-opening approach allows for more testing and another week for numbers to improve before we, as a community, move on to phase 2 part 2.” 

Public health continues to be the primary priority when deciding re-opening dates. As of 6/18/2020, the City of Lawrence has recorded 3,459 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 127 deaths at the hand of the virus. For the third week in a row, Lawrence ranks 3rd in cases per capita and 5th in total infections, with a low rate of testing (despite our efforts, still less than 200 people tested per day); the City’s percentage of people testing positive was at 12.2% in last two-week period of reporting, while the Commonwealth was as low as 2.3%. 

Our hope is that the added week will help us get more people tested and get the positive rate closer to that of the Commonwealth’s. “The numbers are not where they should be to allow us to safely move into the next phase of re-opening,” said Mayor Daniel Rivera. “It is important that we stay vigilant, as difficult as it will be, this is in the best interest of public health. While we focus on continued increased testing efforts, this week will also allow businesses and residents to slowly, cautiously, approach our new normal.”